Did I ever tell you about my Mom’s sweater?

I don’t have a very good track record making sweaters for my family. I already told you about the gothic hoodie I made for my son that he won’t wear. But did I ever tell you about my mother’s sweater?

Two years ago, I bought a couple of books about making jackets, anticipating that when my son’s Social Security survivor benefits ran out, I would have to start making more of the Christmas presents for members of the family. The books were filled with beautifully knit jackets that I thought would appeal to my mom and aunt (yes, Aunt Lauretta, the one who requested I not knit her anything after I bought the books).

I showed the books to my mother, and she immediately picked a blue sweater jacket on the cover of one of the books. It was made with sport weight yarn, which I don’t usually stash, so we went to dinner one night next door to a Michael’s where she could look at yarn.

She picked a Bernat Chunkee Boucle yarn. Not only was it bulky weight instead of sport, but its texture would completely hide the textured pattern of the sweater. This should’ve been my first clue about how this project would go. But no, I did have this yarn in my stash, so we didn’t buy anything that night. I went home and eventually made a test swatch and recalculated the gauge and started knitting.

Mind you, I was making a lot of prayer shawls at the time that were infinitely easier to knit, and somehow, those were more appealing. So the sweater languished. Christmas came and went, and Mom was a little miffed.

In 2008, I tried to get more serious about the sweater, but frankly, I wasn’t enjoying it. The sweater seemed to be coming out smaller than I had anticipated, and I was worried. The yarn wasn’t as fun to work with as I expected, and the whole project was becoming less and less appealing. When I got to the armholes, I realized that the pattern called for dropped-shoulder styling, and I didn’t think Mom would like that. When I asked her, she said no. So I had to redesign the armholes for set-in sleeves.

By this time, the sweater was looking nothing like the sweater on the cover of the book. But I plugged on.

Late last year, as Christmas rolled around again, I finished up the sleeves and found some buttons. In fact, I found 3 different styles of buttons and gave Mom a choice. This involved going first to Walmart and then to Fabricland. She chose a style that I had first liked, then rejected, so I used her choice. Then she didn’t like them. I forget what happened exactly, but I remember that when I gave it to her, she ended up taking off all the buttons, sewing up most of the button holes and then sewing a different, larger, novelty button at the top. She was going to wear it with just one button.

So she wore it to a luncheon with her friend, Sheila, who convinced her to go back to the original style with buttons all the way down.

By this time, of course, I hated the sight of the thing, but Mom gave it back to me and asked me to restore the button holes and the buttons. My friend Gail told me I was nuts to put up with this. I shared this with my mother and told her Gail was right, but I did this in a joking way because I knew I would change the buttons for her, and I eventually did. Took a few weeks for me to get around to it, though. And I felt guilty about that. I finally did it last spring, and to this day, I have no idea if she ever wears the thing.

I have secretly wondered for 2 years if I had made the original sweater and stuck to the pattern, would she have been happier with the final result? I kinda think she would’ve.

Here are the two sweaters side by side. The one on the left is the one my mother originally liked. It's in sport weight yarn. The one on the right is in worsted weight yarn, and it has a big v-neck. I think Mom would be happy with the worsted weight yarn, but she'd definitely prefer a higher collar more similar to the one in the left photo.

It just so happens that in the same book as the one I’m using for Aunt Sue, there is a top-down version of the same sweater that Mom originally liked with the same pattern stitch and the same dropped shoulders. It’s from a different designer, though, and as far as I can tell, the main differences are that it is in worsted-weight, not sport-weight, yarn, it’s longer than the one she picked out, and it has a V-neck instead of a crew neck. I like the fact that it’s worsted weight, changing the length is no problem, and changing the neck wouldn’t be a problem, either.

Sue’s sweater is going so fast, I’m really tempted to make Mom this other sweater for Christmas. I’m sure I could do it. And I’d make it with the dropped shoulders, too, because frankly, the stitch pattern makes the dropped shoulders less noticeable, and if 2 designers made their versions that way, they must know what they’re doing. I have some Vanna’s Choice yarn in Sapphire that I think would be perfect, and it would ease all the guilt I feel if I made it and she likes it.

This close-up shows that the stitches in the two sweaters are the same.

What do you think? Should I give it a go? If I do, it will probably be the only present I knit before Christmas. I mean, no slippers for Lauretta, my cousin Gwenn, or our cousins Jane and Mindy, and Mom just told me we’d be getting together with all of them on the Wednesday before Christmas. And then we see Gwenn and Lauretta again on Christmas, which means more presents. So I’m not sure what to do about this. And Mom informs me that Lauretta has now said I can knit for her after all.

The sooner I get Sue’s sweater done, the more time I’m going to have for all this knitting. And there’s my SIL’s request for a scarf I haven’t forgotten. You see all the pressure I put on myself?

Yesterday, I started the first sleeve on Sue’s sweater after finishing the body of the sweater the night before. Let’s see how far I get this weekend.

About Pam MacKenzie

Pam MacKenzie grew up in a real estate family. Her parents were real estate brokers and office managers, and she herself was a licensed agent in the 1970s. But early on, Pam discovered she'd much rather write about the industry than sell. Now in her eighth year as the real estate editor at the Courier News, Pam believes she has the best job at the paper. In this blog, she's on a mission to empower readers to give them a strong understanding of anything and everything that can impact their ability to own a home. And she believes passionately that when you understand the real estate industry in New Jersey, you understand so much more: the education system, economic and racial bias, the way politics works or doesn't work and ecology, to name a few. She invites everybody to leave lots of comments, even when they disagree with her.

2 Responses to Did I ever tell you about my Mom’s sweater?

Thanks for the great laugh–I needed that. I hope your Mother likes the second sweater, though if SHE doesn’t, maybe your Aunt will wear it now that “don’t knit for me” ban is off! As fast as you knit, you can likely get the sweater, scarf AND all those slippers done in time. You are amazing.

About this Blog

Pam explores local knitting groups and yarn shops, critiques patterns and shares her wisdom on techniques for improving your craft.

About the author

Pam MacKenzie
Our real estate editor, Pam MacKenzie, expresses her creative side in this blog about knitting. Pam learned to knit at age 6, when her friend’s mother made Pam’s doll a dress, and Pam wanted to make more. Her mother wanted her to learn how to sew in high school, but she was afraid of the sewing machines, cutting fabric the wrong way, and the potential that sewing would have for bringing down her grade-point average. Every year, she managed to find a course conflict to avoid sewing classes. But the day after high school graduation, she took her graduation money to a fabric store, bought a kit to make a sweater, taught herself to read patterns and never looked back. These days, she knits a prayer shawl every month, along with sweaters, tote bags, gift bags and other goodies. She also designs many of her projects. Read More About PamE-mail Pam